Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Tool #9

INCORPORATING CLASSROOM-BASED DEVICES AS TOOLS FOR LEARNING:

* I think it is important to tie technology to the objective because it is so much more meaningful and beneficial to the student's learning. You have to give children a reason, goals, and expectations! It gives students more ways to grasp a better understanding and make deeper connections to their schema through practicing with technology.
* We should hold students accountable for the stations to teach them responsibility. I can also see these being motivators for good behavior. If the students aren't taking care of the technology or are doing things they know they shouldn't then they will not continue to be able to use them.
* There were several great links but I really liked Studyladder.com and LearningGamesForKids.com. They have tons of great activities to challenge the students reading and math skills. These help practice and build the students skills in all different content areas. I can hold my students accountable by setting rules and expectations and following through with positive reinforcement or consequences if they chose to not follow directions or not use the activities appropriately.
* I really enjoyed searching for Apps and will continue to find great ones I am sure! A few I have found that I can definitely see being a hit with the students are Fish School HD, Splash Math and Smarty Pants School. These are great Apps for the students to use independently during centers at the first grade level. They are helping the students practice and build on foundation skills/schema they already have. They are practicing skills like matching, letters, shapes, time, money, colors, alphabet, word families, word completion, letter knowledge, phonemic awareness and the list goes on...
*There are so many different ways we can use the iPads and I can't wait to see where my student's want to take it. From taking pictures, to making videos, to working on activities, projects, and using the awesome apps, I can see the technology additions as a huge asset to inspiring learners in my classroom.